The paper examines the Latin proposition poems of the Green Codex from a historical poetics perspective. These poems, whether written by Csokonai himself or under his direction, are representative of the poetic approach that characterised the atmosphere of the Debrecen College in the years when Csokonai studied and taught there; how the students were introduced to ancient Roman lyrical and epic poetry, as well as mythological topos and how they came to reconsider these works. They also epxlore the aesthetic approach students developed regarding the purpose and possibilities of poetry and art. The study also reveals the differences along which, by the end of the 18th century, Debrecen’s poetics education had become partially separated from the foundations of Jesuit poetics education, which had been the model for the earlier period.

The paper examines the Latin proposition poems of the Green Codex from a historical poetics perspective. These poems, whether written by Csokonai himself or under his direction, are representative of the poetic approach that characterised the atmosphere of the Debrecen College in the years when Csokonai studied and taught there; how the students were introduced to ancient Roman lyrical and epic poetry, as well as mythological topos and how they came to reconsider these works. They also epxlore the aesthetic approach students developed regarding the purpose and possibilities of poetry and art. The study also reveals the differences along which, by the end of the 18th century, Debrecen’s poetics education had become partially separated from the foundations of Jesuit poetics education, which had been the model for the earlier period.